BYU Studies Quarterly
Volume 51 | Issue 2
Article 19
4-1-2012
World Trade and Biological Exchanges before 1492
Eric N. Jellen
John L. Sorenson
Carl L. Johannessen
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Recommended Citation
Jellen, Eric N.; Sorenson, John L.; and Johannessen, Carl L. (2012) "World Trade and Biological Exchanges before 1492," BYU Studies
Quarterly: Vol. 51 : Iss. 2 , Article 19.
Available at: http://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol51/iss2/19
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BOOK NOTICES
Jellen et al.: World Trade and Biological Exchanges before 1492
World Trade and Biological Exchanges
before 1492, by John L. Sorenson and
Carl L. Johannessen (Bloomington,
Ind.: iUniverse, 2009).
This book by John L. Sorenson (emeritus professor of anthropology at
Brigham Young University) and Carl L.
Johannessen (emeritus professor of
geography at the University of Oregon) presents a comprehensive, well-­
referenced, and intriguing overview of
historical and archeological evidence
for pre-­Columbian exchange of plants,
microfauna, and animals between the
Old and New Worlds. Its style is more
encyclopedic than narrative, resembling an expanded, annotated bibliography. I read with interest the sections
dealing with the crops that I have
researched genetically—Amaranthus
and Chenopodium—as well as several
other crops that I am very familiar with,
such as cotton.
Since I and my colleagues at Brigham
Young University will soon be publishing genetic data that identify the presence of Old and New World genomes in
the crop quinoa (C. quinoa), this area of
research on ancient transoceanic crop
dispersal is one in which I think I have
some expertise—at least in terms of
genetics. The historical, archeological,
and linguistic data referenced in this
book in support of the pre-Columbian
exchange hypothesis represent, cumulatively, a compelling body of work that,
in my view, questions the wisdom of
dogmatically accepting the existing paradigm of no pre-­Columbian exchange
(the null hypothesis).
The biological data in support of this
hypothesis, however, are notably weak
or absent. In my experience, however,
this is likely the result of biologists not
realizing the extent of the historical,
archeological, and linguistic evidence
in its favor; because of this oversight,
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Published by BYU ScholarsArchive, 2012
many biologists may have not seriously
considered designing experiments to
question the null hypothesis of no preColumbian crop and animal dispersal.
In the case of researchers here at BYU,
we do not have access to germplasm
of “quinoa-like” domesticated Chenopodium plants native to the remote
Ladakh region of the Himalayas, though
samples of weedy specimens from this
region have shown greater genetic affinity to the Old World C. album than to
Andean C. quinoa.
Sorenson and Johannessen therefore rate the likelihood of quinoa’s
pre-­Columbian dispersal as a “C”—correctly in my estimation, based on currently available data. As for amaranths,
BYU researchers have demonstrated
in the lab that Asian-cultivated amaranth samples originated from the
New World germplasm pool—though
whether this dispersal occurred before
or after Columbus remains a mystery.
Overall, this book is a valuable addition
to the body of secondary literature on
pre-Columbian biological exchange.
—Eric N. Jellen
To the Peripheries of Mormondom: The
Apostolic Around-the-World Journey of
David O. McKay, 1920–1921, by Hugh J.
Cannon, edited by Reid L. Neilson (Salt
Lake City: University of Utah Press,
2011).
An around-the-world journey made
by an Apostle may not be something
extraordinary today, but in 1920 it was
monumental. Hugh J. Cannon’s To the
Peripheries of Mormondom details the
historic trip of Elder David O. McKay—
the first Apostle to make a journey of
this magnitude and to visit most of the
places he did. He and Hugh J. Cannon
were called on a one-year fact-finding
mission to visit the Church’s non–North
BYU Studies Quarterly 51, no. 2 (12)
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